Biden’s direction has ended many of the policies that in the past dictated agencies’ fitness and protection responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. But for federal employees, management still offers some flexibility in the office for the foreseeable future.
One of the few policies left from a series of 2021 executive orders directs federal workers to take up to 4 hours of paid administrative leave to receive COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, the Office of Personnel Management said in an April 12 memo.
“Management strongly encourages federal workers to obtain doses of the updated COVID-19 vaccines, even though receiving those vaccines is not a requirement for the position,” OPM Director Kiran Ahuja said in the memo to firm bosses. they remain the most productive tool we have to fight COVID-19. They are safe, effective, and free.
For federal workers, the submitted administrative leave will cover the time it takes to reach the COVID-19 booster, as well as the federal government’s time to and from the vaccination site. As is the norm, workers will need to get approval from their supervisors. before taking a license for this purpose, OPM said. Four hours is the maximum allowed through OPM, however, federal workers deserve to take time off only as long as they really want to get vaccinated.
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Contrary to previous OPM guidelines, federal workers can no longer take administrative leave when accompanying a family circle member who is getting vaccinated, if they have an adverse reaction to a vaccine, or if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and are waiting to be vaccinated. proven. . In those cases, OPM said workers would now have to return to normal in the event of ill health leave or some other type of paid or unpaid leave.
Along with OPM’s new COVID-19 furlough guidelines, a Friday memo from the Office of Management and Budget officially ended the Federal Workforce Safety Task Force (and any similar guidance from that task force). First, the OMB established the task force in early 2021. to ensure a healthy federal office and pandemic preparedness.
The management said that while COVID-19 continues to pose health concerns, there is no longer a genuine need for a full task force or broader leave policies for federal employees.
Even with the completion of the task force, agencies continue to maintain and enforce their office protection plans, OMB said. These safety plans were one of the agencies’ initial needs under the 2021 Orders.
Going forward, in the absence of the Task Force, the PMS now assumes responsibility for any new personnel policies or adjustments such as leave such as the COVID-19 pandemic or any other public health emergency.
The report from the Federal Task Force on a Safer Workforce will remain online but will no longer be updated, the OMB said.
The administration’s removal of the Federal Safer Workforce Task Force also comes nearly a year after the White House officially ended the COVID-19 national public fitness emergency on May 11, 2023.
Around this time last year, management officially lifted the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees. However, this mandate was never fully enforced, as it stalled in court cases that blocked most requirements.
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Regardless, as of early 2022, 98% of federal workers had already complied with the vaccine mandate or applied for an exemption.
Drew Friedman is a Jobs, Compensation and Federal News Network Reporter.